‘Damn you for hurting her!’ he said to himself and tried not to hold her.          Still as a statue, Kingston waited for Romaine to lash out at him, but her face went blank… frighteningly blank. The instincts that always warned Kingston when an enemy was near, went on red alert as she stalked past him to the trellis.“Are you coming or not, Mr. Rossdale?” she said quietly before climbing back down.          She’d never called him that… Romaine was angry but he had no choice but to follow her down to the balcony where Brent and Marisol were still waiting for them.          By the time his boots hit the stone, the women were in Romaine’s bedroom with the door shut.“What happened up there, King?&

“It took you a long time to get here,” she said and her emerald eyes looked at him a bit perplexed. “All you had to do was prepare the wine and join me in the bathtub.”“I wanted to be sure everything is all right outside the doors of your rooms, my sweet Princess,” Kingston replied and lowered his head just enough to catch her bottom lip lightly between his teeth. “I’m still your bodyguard, am I not?” he whispered against her lips. Romaine wanted to reply, but like every time Kingston would kiss her, she was drowning in a flood of sensations, of longings, of needs. Her breath had strangled in her lungs, and she couldn’t breathe. She didn’t want to.“This is one of my many fantasies,” he said and started to slowly lose his clothes one by one. “You, me… both naked, having hot sex in a bathtub or, even better, in the shower…” Kingston took a condom out of his pocket and he’d carefully laid it in the soap dish. Romaine wet her lips and watched his magnificent naked bo

Kingston waited impatiently for Romaine to be finished with the idiots in the other room. Yesterday, he had every intention of breaking off their private relationship and just being her bodyguard, letting her hate him. Then she had yelled at him and dragged everything out into the open. He couldn’t live without this beautiful, intelligent, amazing woman… He couldn’t live without his hidden princess anymore. They dove into this uncertain future, unaware of when or if they’d be able to surface safely and breathe freely again. Having her in his arms was his only way to have control. He knew that without a doubt. He wouldn’t say he loved her, but what he was feeling about Romaine was getting so damn close. When was the last time he had actually loved someone? Years ago, he'd had a girlfriend after his first year in the military. He had planned on marrying her, and living a happy, fulfilled life together but then she found someone else while

The bedside clock read three in the morning. Kingston was still in Romaine’s bed, keeping her in his arms. He could hear the deep, even breathing that was indicating Romaine was sound asleep. These days she was doing so much and sleeping so little, that he decided to stay with her the whole night, watching over her. As Romaine shifted against him, Kingston lifted his arm, allowing her to settle against his chest before he let himself hold her close again. Having her like this was so soothing… Listening to her breathing, and feeling the softness of her hair as he held her close was exactly what his soul needed. Romaine was firmly entrenched in his heart. A soft moan slipped past Romaine’s lips as she moved against him again, her lips pressing the bare flesh of his chest. Kingston clenched his teeth against the heated pleasure of her soft little tongue stroking over the flat, hard disc of his male nipple. Was he supposed to let her do this or wake

The next morning, Romaine awoke naked beneath the sheets with the memory of their wonderful, amazing, sexy night tryst still extremely fresh in her mind. The way he pleased her… The way she pleased him… How they’d made love… On Romaine’s lips appeared a very satisfied smile.“My King…” she whispered while she was touching herself thinking about him naked and aroused. “My love… My sexy, powerful love…” Romaine closed her eyes and sighed… The images of him taking her that morning, before leaving her room were still making her hot… He’d risen to leave before morning… she woke up, too, and one kiss led to another until he was buried inside her, making slow, sweet love to her once again, showing her what he felt but might never say out loud. She pulled aside the sheets and started to pinch her breasts, imagining it was Kingston doing it… Then slowly, she slid her hand down her abdomen, the tips of her fingers stopping between her thighs. She started to stroke